Darwin’s Great Voyage Of Discovery

Darwin’s Great Voyage of Discoveryadapted from Excerpts from Charles Darwin’s Voyage of the BeagleIt is the year 1831 and you have just been hired to accompany a youngenvironmentalist by the name of Charles Darwin on an expedition around the world!You have created journal entries recording experiences of your great expedition.Preface (Words from Charles Darwin himself)I have stated in the preface to the first Edition of this work, and in the Zoology of the Voyage of theBeagle, that it was in consequence of a wish expressed by Captain Fitz Roy, of having somescientific person on board, accompanied by an offer from him giving up part of his ownaccommodations, that I volunteered my services, which received, through the kindness of thehydrographer. I hope I may be able to repeat my expression of gratitude to him; and to add that,during the five years we were together, I received from him the most cordial friendship and steadyassistance. Both Captain Fitz Roy and to all the Officers of the Beagle. I shall ever feel most thankfulfor the undeviating kindness with which I was treated during our long voyage.As we move from stop to stop throughout our voyage, Mr. Darwin does the same whilekeeping detailed records and collecting an enormous number of specimens. He tries to explain tothat he believes that the species that look similar evolved from a common ancestor, but evolveddifferently due to different needs in their respective environments.Mr. Darwin would later propose that, through a process he called Natural Selection , membersof a species that are best suited to their environment survive and reproduce at a higher rate thanother members of the species. Mr. Darwin based his idea of natural selection on a few key ion

Is Charles Darwin correct? I decide to begin taking my own notes on the same organismsthat Mr. Darwin observes. As we travel from stop to stop with the HMS Beagle , I will answerquestions that I ponder on a log sheet to see if there is any validity to what Mr. Darwin is proposing!In order for me to complete my log detailing Charles Darwin's observations, we will firstcircumnavigate the globe and see what sparked the soon to be famous evolutionary biologist'stheories of evolution by natural selection.After embarking on our first voyage from port of England, I will continue recording observationson the log sheet at the following locations along the route of the HMS Beagle :Santiago one of the Cape VerdeIslands off the northwestern coastof AfricaSalvador port city on the eastcoast of Southpresent day BrazilAmerica,inGalapagos Islands 22 islandslocated off the west coast of SouthAmerica, near present day EcuadorAustralia island continentlocated across the Pacific Ocean,bordering the Indian Ocean on itswestern coastSt. Helena island located off thesouthwestern coast of Africa

SalvadorSalvador Brazil 13 o S 38 o WFebruary 28, 1832The HMS Beagle arrived in Salvador, Brazil on February 28, 1832. Thecrew spent two and a half weeks anchored in All Saints Bay, and it was duringthis time that you are able to explore Brazil's tropical rainforests with CharlesDarwin.As you travel throughout the rainforest with Darwin, you find it odd that you don't noticesomething insects! Darwin points out to you that they are there, you just have to look closer. Youtake a better look, and notice that many insects have an adaptation thatenables them to blend in with their background.camouflage!Rio de Janeiro, Brazil: 23 o S 43 o WJuly 5, 1832In the morning we got underway, and saw a great shoal of porpoises, in fact manyhundreds in number. As we continued our Journey into the Plata we were then surrounded bynumerous seals and penguins, which made such strange noises, that the officer on watch reported hecould hear the cattle bellowing on shore. On the second night we witnessed such a splendid scene ofnatural fireworks; the mast head and yard arm ends shone with St. Elmo’s light; the tracks of thepenguins were marked by a fiery wake, and the darkness of the sky was momentarily illuminated bythe most vivid lightning.Tierra del Fuego, Argentina: 55 o S 73 o WDecember 17, 1832Having now finished with Patagonia and the Falkland Islands, I will describe our first arrival intierra del Fuego. We kept close to the Fuegan shore, but the outline of the rugged, inhospitable landwas amidst the clouds. In the afternoon we anchored in the Bay of Good Success.The harbourconsists of a fine piece of water half surrounded by low rounded mountains of clay, which are coveredto the water’s edge by the dense gloomy forest. A single glance at the landscape was sufficient toshow me how widely different it was from anything i had ever beheld. At night it blew a gale of wind,and heavy squalls from the mountains swept past us. It would have been a bad time out at sea, andwe, as well asothers, may call this Good Success. Bay.In line with text Fixed position

Galapagos Islands22 islands located off the west coastof South America, near present day EcuadorGalapagos, Islands: 0 o S 90 o WSeptember 15, 1835After setting sail from Callao, Peru on September 7, 1835, CharlesDarwin and I, first laid eyes on the Galapagos Archipelago eight days later. The islands themselveswere fairly uninhabited by humans, 10 total, though one of the islands to the south, Charles Island,was populated by a small colony of 250 political prisoners from nearby Ecuador. The islands are allformed from volcanic rocks: a few fragments of granite curiously glazed and altered by the heat, canhardly be considered the exception. It is on this string of islands that you watch Mr. Darwin makesome of his most well known observations that led to his theory of evolution by natural selection.During your 35 day stay among the 22 islands off the west coast of South America, you joinCharles Darwin in studying many native species of plants and animals. Among those that you studyare iguanas, snakes and tortoises (one Englishman in charge of the prisoncolony remarked to Mr. Darwin that he could tell which island a tortoise came from bylooking at the shape of its shell and they differed from island to island). The rocks on thecoast abounded with great black lizards, between three and four feet long; and on the hills, an uglyyellowish brown species was equally common.However, the most memorable of all of Mr. Darwin's subjects are the thirteen species offinches that he saw living throughout the Galapagos Islands. Mr. Darwin was particularlyfascinated by the differences in beak shape that he noted amongst the similar lookingbirds.Why do the finches have differently shaped beaks?How can birds that live on different islands look so similar, yet be different?

Tahiti Island, French Polynesia: 17 o S 149 o WNovember 15, 1835At daylight, Tahiti, an island which must forever remain classical to the voyager in the South Sea,was in view. At a distance the appearance was not attractive. The luxuriant vegetation of thelower part could not yet be seen, and as soon as the clouds rolled past, the wildest and mostprecipitous peaks, showed themselves toward the centre of the island.SydneySydney, Australia: 33 o SJanuary 12, 1836You arrive with the HMSSydney Cove, Australia.lovely city, witha population of23,000.151 o EBeagle inSydney is a veryapproximatelyOn this island continent, you and Mr. Darwin observe several unusual animal species, suchas:Mr. Darwin is so baffled by these unusual species that he has no other explanation for theirevolution other to assume that they must be a result of a totally separate act of creation!A little bored by Darwin's immediate inability to explain where the bizarre species camefrom, you decide to review your notes from your visit to South America. On a side trip tothe Isthmus of Panama, the land mass that divides the Caribbean Sea and the PacificOcean, you joined Mr. Darwin as he obtained samples and studied several similar speciesof snapping shrimp from both coasts of the isthmus. These crustaceans must have evolvedas a result of speciation when new species arise from a single, existing species.buthow?

o o Cocos Islands: 12 S 96 EApril 1, 1836We arrived in view of the Keeling or Cocos Islands, situated in the Indian Ocean., and about sixhundred miles distant from the coast of Sumatra. This is one of the lagoon islands of coral formation, similarto those in the Low Archipelago which we passed near.St. Helenao o St. Helena, Acension : 20 S 14 WJuly 8, 1836On July 8, 1836 the HMS Beagle arrived on St. Helena. During this time, you stay by CharlesDarwin's side as he observes populations of fish in different rivers and streams. Darwin is struck bythe wide variation among the same species of fish from different streams, even among species livingin different parts of the same stream. Darwin also observed differences in the distribution of thespecies' predators, and in the color and size of the gravel in different stream locations.Darwin tells you as he begins to see a strong correlation between where fish lived in aparticular stream and whether the fish were bright or drab in color. But what is responsible for thesetrends in coloration? And if bright colors made fish more conspicuous to predators, why should malesbe colorful at all?http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/evolution/sex/guppy/

Welcome Homeo o Falmouth, England: 50 N 5 WOctober 2, 1836You, Charles Darwin and the crew of the HMS Beagle have finally returned home to Englandafter four years, nine months and five days at sea! It was a long and tiring journey, but you learned agreat deal about the factors that govern Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by natural selection.By examining the evidence that Mr. Darwin used to support his theory, you have learned that livingthings have evolved , or changed over time, from an original ancestor. This evolution was guided byan organism’s survival requirements in their natural environment, a process that Darwin namednatural selection. Natural selection states that members of a species that are best suited to theirenvironment survive and reproduce at a higher rate than other members of the species. You tooknote as Darwin based this idea on the key principles that were evident throughout your voyage:overproduction, variation, adaptation and selection.

Darwin’s Great Voyage of Discovery adapted from Excerpts from Charles Darwin’s Voyage of the Bea